Part 21

seen in the south side, and with the one in the east wall of the chancel, judging from which it was probably at this later period that all the present windows, seen in Fig. 292, were inserted. The original windows were, doubtless, the usual small windows found in Norman churches, and when they came to be enlarged, the builders probably increased the buttresses to compensate for the weakening of the wall, and added the conical finials on them and on the gables (see Fig. 292). It is obvious that to this period also the upper part of the tower belongs. The lower part of the tower, although not of the original structure, is, we are inclined to think, of considerable antiquity; it opens into the church with a plain, round arch. The staircase shown in it and on the north aisle lead to galleries.

During the reign of William the Lion (1165-1214) the church and lands of Dodin-ston were acquired by the Abbey of Kelso, but from whom they were acquired is not known. There were several persons of the name of Dodin, but the one who gave his name to this place does not appear to be known. But there was a “Hugo filius Dodini de Dodines-tun” who witnessed a charter to the Canons of Holyrood in the time of William the Lion (Dalrymple _Collection_, Pref. lxvii.; also, _Caledonia_, Vol. II. p. 791.)

In 1296 John Combale, the vicar of Dodinestun, swore fealty to Edward I.

In the ancient _Taxatio_ (end of twelfth century), Duddingston Church is rated at twenty-five merks.

ST. ANDREW’S CHURCH, GULLANE, HADDINGTONSHIRE.

The village of Gullane lies in the parish of Dirleton, about four miles north-west from Drem Station, and half-a-mile from the sea.

The old church of St. Andrew is now a roofless ruin, thickly clad with ivy, and standing in the middle of the ancient churchyard. The church was bestowed early in the thirteenth century on Dryburgh Abbey by Sir William de Vaux, and in 1446 it was erected into a collegiate institution by Sir Walter de Haliburton. Both these knights were the proprietors of the Castle of Dirleton in the vicinity.

The structure (Fig. 299) consisted of nave and chancel, the chancel being entered from the nave by a semicircular chancel arch, almost the only remnant of the edifice of the twelfth century which survives.

The chancel as it now stands is 35 feet in length by 15 feet 6 inches in width internally. The eastern portion is a comparatively recent addition, and has a square east wall, but it is believed that the chancel formerly terminated towards the east with an apse. Part of the old south wall of the chancel, extending to about 20 feet in length, still remains. It contains two pointed windows, with late mouldings on the exterior, probably fragments of the restoration of the fifteenth century, at the time when the church was made collegiate. These windows have been reduced to mere slits by being built up with slabs in the interior. This filling up was probably inserted when the place was converted into a burial-ground for a private family, in order to prevent entrance through the windows.

The south wall of the nave is still about 72 feet in length, but the north wall is reduced to about 43 feet long. The west end is gone, and the nave has been divided up into private burial-places. The windows which remain in the south wall of the nave have been much altered in Presbyterian times, having had flat lintels, &c., introduced.

The chancel archway (Figs. 300, 301) is 8 feet in width. It has square jambs on both sides of the wall, and a central half shaft on each jamb of the opening. The caps of these shafts (see Fig. 301) are fairly preserved, and

show a form of volutes, with a cabled necking and a three-sided abacus, which was continued as a string course along the walls on each side.

The arch has been built up, but the two plain orders of the east side are visible, and the outer order on the west side (Fig. 300), carved with a bold chevron and finished with a three-sided hood, is well preserved. There can be no doubt as to this part of the structure being of Norman origin, and the north wall of the nave has a three-sided string course, which seems to indicate the same date, but the remainder of the structure

has been greatly altered. The earth inside the choir has been filled up to near the caps of the chancel arch. A round arch in the north wall of the chancel appears to belong to a side door at the original level of the floor.

An “aisle” or wing has been built out to the north from the nave. It has been entered by a large semicircular arch from the nave, and has had a large north window, but these openings are now built up. This erection seems to be of about the time of the Reformation.

UPHALL CHURCH, AND ST. NICHOLAS’ CHURCH, STRATHBROC, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

The Church of Uphall is a Norman structure throughout, and consists of nave, chancel, and a western tower. It has been subjected to various

alterations and extensions, but the original plan is still perfectly clear, and is shown by Fig. 302, which ignores the changes, except the addition of the south aisle or wing. The building has no side aisles.

The nave measures about 35 feet long by 15 feet wide, and the

chancel 30 feet 6 inches long by 13 feet wide. The doorway (Fig. 303) is in the usual place at the west end of the south front. It is of Norman design, having a nook shaft at each side, with cushion cap and plain square abacus. The arch is round, and has two orders, the inner order being square edged, and the outer composed of mouldings, and having a moulded label. It is probable there was some piece of carving beneath the arch, or else the square lintel is an alteration. A stoup adjoining in the south wall has a pointed opening, and probably dates from the fifteenth century. There is another doorway opposite in the north wall, which is perfectly plain, and, so far as it can be seen, it appears to be original; but, as the lower parts of the walls are covered with wood boarding, other requisites which may exist, such as ambries and piscina, are concealed. None of the windows are original, so far, at least, as they are seen on the exterior, and the whole masonry on the inside is covered. The east window in the south wall (Fig. 304) has a horizontal arched lintel, with radiating joints, and probably dates from late in the fifteenth century. It is impossible to say whether there were windows in the east wall or not, and, as regards the north wall, it has nearly all been taken down between the west door and the chancel arch, in order to admit a modern addition. The chancel arch itself has been taken away, and the

wall above removed, and the place occupied by it has been filled up with lath and plaster, and slated on the outside.

The western tower (Fig. 305) has been appropriated as the burial-place of the Buchan family; so that it now forms no part of the church. It is entered by a fanciful Norman door in the west end. The windows in the tower are all modern, and so, we need hardly say, is the belfry. The upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a late period, probably during the fifteenth century alteration.

The south aisle probably dates from the seventeenth century, and was built by the Shairp family, whose mansion house of Houston is in the neighbourhood. It is now partly used as their burial aisle, and is a quaint structure, forming an agreeable contrast to the modern additions.

The parish of Uphall was formerly called Strathbroc, and at this place, near the modern mansion of Kirkhill, and about one mile east from Uphall, stood the old parish church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, which was abandoned in the sixteenth century, when the Church of Uphall became the parish church. What kind of building it was before this does not appear to be known. The Rev. Mr. Primrose, who has devoted much attention to the antiquities of the locality, suggests that it was the chapel of some order of monks.

Of the Church of Strathbroc only two relics now remain. The one is the font (Fig. 306), of which the basin only is old. It was rescued from the adjoining farm steading, where it served a useful, if not dignified, purpose, and placed on its present base, and now stands in the Roman Catholic Church of Broxburn. It is octagonal in shape, and contains (Fig. 307) the letters M· and IHS·, repeated twice. Two of the faces bear the inscriptions STA/ECCLESIA· and NICOLAS·, and two faces are vacant.

The other relic of St. Nicholas is the bell which now rings in the parish church of Uphall. It contains the inscription “Campanum Sancti Nicholai de Strathbroke, 1441.”[181] Mr. Primrose states that the bell was recast in 1503, and contains the Seton arms--Kirkhill at this period belonging to that family.

ABERCORN, LINLITHGOWSHIRE.

The ancient church of Æbbercurnig, or Abercorn, lies in a sheltered spot amidst the fine woods surrounding the grounds of Hopetoun House, about three miles west from Queensferry.

It is believed that when the Northumbrian kingdom was extended to the Forth in the seventh century, a church was founded here in 675, under St. Wilfrid, as a central point from which to superintend the northern part of his diocese. Under Trumuini, this church became the see of the earliest bishopric in Scotland, during the years from 681 to 685. But the victory of the Picts over the Northumbrians at Dunichen caused the latter to retire from Lothian, and drove the monks back to Whitby. The site, however, continued to be occupied by a church, and part of the existing structure belongs to the Norman period. It has been very greatly altered in modern times--so much so, that a round-headed doorway (Fig. 308) in the south wall is now almost the only portion remaining which can be

identified as of Norman date. This Norman doorway has the usual nook shafts, with cushion caps, and the lintel within the round arch is square. The tympanum is filled with stones, arranged in zig-zag patterns, and is one of the few examples in Scotland of a tympanum filled with a shield containing ornament of any kind.

Several burial-places have been added on the south side of the church since Reformation times. (Fig. 309.) These can generally be identified by the coats of arms they bear.

To the north-east of the church there has been erected, probably in the eighteenth century, a house of two stories as a place for the lord of the manor, from which he obtained access to his private gallery, erected about that time at the east end of the choir, which it still disfigures.

In the churchyard there are many interesting tombstones, and amongst them are two stone monuments of rather unusual form. (Fig. 310.)

These consist of solid stones, doubtless intended to be laid over graves, triangular in section, with the ridge rising to the centre. One has the sides carved with figures of fish-scale pattern, arranged in rows; the other has the scales of a squarer shape. The ends are broken. They are good specimens of the hog-backed form of tombstones.

KELSO ABBEY, ROXBURGHSHIRE.

In 1113, David, Earl of Huntingdon, introduced thirteen Reformed Benedictine monks from Tiron, in France (hence called Tironenses), and settled them at Selkirk, near his castle there. But the place was not found suitable, and in 1128, after David had become king, the monks, with the consent of the Bishop of Glasgow, were removed to Kelso, where they were established near the royal castle of Roxburgh. The foundation of the new abbey was laid in 1128, and the church was dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist. The monastery soon became the richest and most powerful in Scotland. In 1165 the Pope granted permission to the abbot to wear the mitre, and the abbot claimed precedence of all the superiors of monasteries in Scotland. But in 1420 this precedence was decided by James I. in favour of the Prior of St. Andrews. Many of the abbots of Kelso were men of learning and celebrity, and were employed in important offices in and out of the kingdom, and others were promoted to bishoprics.

During the War of Independence the abbey, which lay near the Border, suffered severely. The monastery was laid waste, and the monks were supported by contributions from the other houses of the order. In 1344, the buildings of the abbey having been destroyed by fire, David II. granted permission to the monks to cut wood in Selkirk and Jedwart Forest, to enable them to carry out the necessary reparations.

In 1511 the abbacy passed into the hands of the Bishop of Caithness, as commendator, and its decline soon followed. After the Battle of Flodden, in 1513, David Ker of Cessford took possession of the abbey, and had his brother made abbot. In 1522-3 invasion and havoc spread over Teviotdale. Lords Ross and Dacre pillaged the town, sparing the

abbey; but in 1523 Lord Dacre sacked and burned it. The abbot’s house and buildings surrounding it, the Chapel of the Virgin, and the cells of the dormitory were all reduced to ashes; the lead was stripped from the roof, and the abbey rendered uninhabitable. All religious services were stopped, and the monks had to retire in want and poverty to a village near. From 1536 till 1558 James Stewart, natural son of James V., filled the office of abbot, and drew the revenues. In 1542 the Duke of Norfolk,

and in 1545 the Earl of Hertford, again attacked and further destroyed the monastery. On the latter occasion the defenders sought refuge in the tower, which they defended till darkness enabled some of them to escape. The shattered walls seem still to have afforded some shelter; but they

were again still further reduced by Lord Eure in 1546. Finally, in 1560, when a few monks still remained, the buildings were attacked by the mob, and all the remaining fittings and furnishings destroyed. In 1559 the revenues and property of the abbey had been taken possession of by the Lords of the Congregation in the name of the Crown.

These were afterwards distributed amongst the favourites of James VI., and were finally conferred on Sir Robert Ker of Cessford, who was created

Lord Roxburgh in 1599. The abbey still belongs to his successor, the Duke of Roxburgh, and the remains of the late Duke are buried in the south transept.

In 1649 a vault was thrown over the transept, so as to convert it into a parish church, and above this another vault served as a prison. This is shown in Grose’s view, made a century ago.

During service on a Sunday in 1771, a panic was caused by the fall of a fragment of cement, and the church was thereafter abandoned. The ruins were partly disencumbered by the Duke of Roxburgh, 1805-16, and in 1823 the buildings were repaired by the noblemen and gentlemen of the county.[182]

After the many batterings and the long neglect the abbey church has endured, it is astonishing to find even the fragments which still exist.

The edifice has consisted (Fig. 311) of a choir or chancel of considerable length, with north and south aisles, and of a transept and nave, without aisles. The north and south divisions of the transept and the nave form three arms of equal length round the three sides of the crossing, above which rises the massive square tower.

The church has been originally constructed in the late Norman style of about the end of the twelfth century, passing into the transition style; but the upper part of the tower has been rebuilt at a later period.

A portion of each of the departments of the church survives, but in the case of the chancel there remains only a fragment. The chancel is the only part which had aisles, but these have now entirely disappeared; and of the chancel itself, all that remains (Fig. 312) is two of the south main piers, with their arches, and two stories of arcades above, which represent the triforium and clerestory. This arrangement is peculiar, and the effect is striking.

The main piers consist of a circular column, five feet in diameter, with smaller attached half-columns on three sides to carry the moulded arches between the main piers and the arches between the latter and the aisles. The piers have caps of the usual Norman modified cushion pattern, and the arches were moulded and arranged in several orders. The arcade immediately over the main arches has a row of single round shafts, with spreading Norman caps, which carry a series of moulded arches, occupying the position of the triforium. The upper arcade, which takes the place of the clerestory, has shafts of triple form, with wide-spreading bases and caps of Norman and transition design. On the latter rest the round boldly-moulded arches. The arches opposite the windows in the outer wall are slightly larger than the others. It will be observed that there is no main vaulting shaft carried up over the main piers, as is almost invariably the case, for the purpose of strengthening the wall. On the contrary, the triforium arcade is continuous, and no provision is made to support the side wall, except the single shafts of the running arcade, which have a very weak effect. In the usual arrangement the triforium arches are separated by a substantial piece of wall, including a vaulting shaft, and the triforium arch, which is generally subdivided into several subordinate arches, is introduced between the vaulting shafts.

That is a much more substantial form of construction, and also more satisfactory to the eye, than the plan adopted here of a simple continuous arcade.

The clerestory is designed on the same principle as the triforium, and consists of a continuous arcade, without the interruption of the vaulting shafts.

In the view of the exterior of this portion of the choir (Fig. 313), the outside of the windows of the clerestory is visible, being simple round-headed openings, with flat buttresses between them. The remainder of the wall is plain, but, judging from the level of the triforium window, the vaulting of the aisle, which was very high, and partly covered the windows, seems to have been added at a later date. The choir was 28 feet in width from centre to centre of the piers, only two of which survive.

The crossing is square, and measures 28 feet from centre to centre of the piers; but of these the north-east one is wanting. The piers are about nine feet square, that at the south-east angle standing detached in consequence of the opening into the south aisle, while those at the north-west and south-west angles are incorporated with the walls.

The piers are designed as a series of shafts set in square nooks (four on each of the complete sides), with a larger semicircular shaft at each angle. (See Figs. 312 and 314.) The shafts are all built in courses with the piers. They have transition bases and caps. From the latter spring large pointed arches, with plain chamfered orders. The pointed arch indicates the transitional character of this part of the building. It was probably introduced in this position to give strength to sustain the tower.

As already mentioned, the three arms of the cross branching to the north, south, and west from the crossing are of equal size. This is a

very unusual arrangement, the western arm or nave being generally much the longest division of the church. We have not heard any satisfactory explanation given of the shortness of the nave of Kelso. This arrangement of plan has apparently been part of the original design, as the western doorway (Figs. 315 and 316) is one of the most prominently Norman portions of the edifice. The upper part of the west front (see Fig. 315), although much broken away, has been in the transition style; while the Norman arcading, which runs round the interior of the nave, was continued across the west end.

The nave and the north and south transept each measure about 22 feet in width by 18 feet in length. Each contains four stories in height (Figs. 315 and 317), consisting of an interlacing arcade of Norman work in the interior of the ground level, and three stories of windows above. The upper arcades of the choir do not extend round the nave and transepts, except in a portion of the south transept. (See Fig. 312.) Another arrangement was found desirable in those portions where there were no aisles, as windows could be obtained in that case; while, with aisles (as in the choir), the first floor was darkened by the roof of the

aisles. The windows in the different stories of the nave and transept have all round arches, both outside (see Fig. 315) and inside, the former having one plain square-edged order supported on nook shafts. Of these the caps and bases only are now for the most part in existence. The exterior is marked at each angle by broad and shallow Norman buttresses, with nook shafts in the angles, and an interlacing arcade running round the lower story, both internally and externally.

In the façades of the west end and north transept the windows of the different stories have been grouped so as to form distinct designs. In the west end, over the great west doorway (see Fig. 315), there has been an arrangement of tall windows of apparently lancet form, having on either side an interlacing arcade of round arches, supported on tall banded shafts. This is now, unfortunately, greatly destroyed. Above the arcade there runs a horizontal flat cornice, enriched with several rows of carved ornaments, and this was surmounted by a large opening of quatrefoil shape, surrounded with numerous mouldings and enrichments. The angle buttresses have been crowned with octagonal turrets.

The north wall of the north transept (see Fig. 317) has a fine transition door-piece (Fig. 318), which occupies the two lower stories. The next two stories have two windows in each, separated by a small buttress, the upper one of these stories having three arches in the interior. (See Fig. 314.) Above these stories is a small circular window, with a curious saving arch over it, and the whole is crowned with a top story, containing three round-headed openings, and a gable with a small circular aperture. The buttresses at the angles are crowned with circular turrets, which have been finished with a projecting parapet, the corbels for carrying which still survive. The upper part of the gable shows signs of having been altered.

It may be pointed out that the west front and the façade of the north transept are good illustrations of the Norman and Transition styles